I just received Ode to Kirihito for my birthday, and it brought to mind how few people have read the work of the guy who started it all... (ultimately) the whole reason all of us are here discussing japnaese animation and comics, none other than Osamu Tezuka.

I was curious how many people here have read his work, and if so what do you like about it?

I for one love his amazingly experimental and creative visual storytelling style, his constant shifting between high and low brow, his inexhaustible energy, and the unpredictablity of much of his work.

Out of what I've read from him, I've been consistently impressed by Phoenix. Volume 3 and 4 were the ones that I enjoyed the most, with Space for its experimental storytelling featuring 4 different perspectives told at the same time, with collective experiences depicted breaking the gaps between each perspective (its hard to describe well) and Karma for its spirituality and intensity particularly towards the end.


Tezuka is severely under appreciated in this country, his work is something every otaku should check out.

Check this link out for information: Tezuka in English

Tezuka is my win, seriously. I finished Ode to Kirihito not so long ago, and Phoenix vol. 9. (It's all they had.. XD) As mostly just knowing like Ribon no Kashi, and Unico, to go from that and then read Ode made me appreciate him more. :D

Black Jack is my most favourite, however. He's so amazing. *gushes*

I would like Ribon no Kashi and more Black Jack to be released over here, preferrably *NOT* chopped up. >.<

I started reading Ode to Kirihito at a bookstore the other day! It is sort of the polar opposite of Buddha, which I also really enjoyed.

I've only read a little bit of pheonix (though I've seen several versions of it in anime form. (Oh, on that note I just picked up the crappy American release of 2772 called "Space Firebird: The classic legend of the Phoenix as only the future could tell it!").

Metropolis was the first Tezuka thing I saw besides Unico and some Astroboy, and remains one of my favorite anime, though I was thuroughly dissappointed with the manga.

Blackjack is a long time favorite of mine, though I prefer the OVA's which are technically Osamu Dezaki. I also have a few of the bible stories, on that note.

Yeah Tezuka didn't even like the manga so much, calling it a less significant early work, but rintaro really wanted to adapt it. The final product though felt very Otomo, very little tezuka survived... Everything was so otomo, highly politicized, lots of tension, large explosion at the end... very otomo.

It still captured the visual feel of a tezuka comic very well (though later than his work on metropolis which still had the old 30s american cartoon look and not quite the manga look that tezuka did during the 60s which looks closer to anime as we know it today...)

I guess I am spoiled in these respects of capturing the feel of Tezuka ^^; I came from watching Tezuka animes first, and then reading his works. (Marine Express, oh yeah. This sentance makes no sense.)

Lately however I've been on a mad quest to find Adolf and Buddha at a con or bookstore. I have yet to succeed ._. Yeah living in nowheresville!

Neil, I'm curious to what you've actually read!

What I've read/watched from Tezuka

Manga (complete)
Adolf
Metropolis/futureworld/nextworld

Manga (at least 1 volume)

Phoenix (on vol 8, hope to complete)
Buddha (decided to hold off until I complete phoenix - 1 vol)
Black Jack (1 vol)
Astroboy (1 vol)
Ode to Kirihito (working on...)

Anime

Shorts:

Mermaid
Jumping
Male
Legend of the Forest (this one is cool if you can find it! - his tribute to american animation)
Pictures at an Exhibition

TV:

Astroboy (a few old vhs tapes - not to diss the show, but it really makes for a good cure for insomnia - puts viewers right to sleep :P - Mike can attest to this power!)

Kimba the White Lion (the pilot film you can find on youtube specifically)
Phoenix TV (until I figured out that it was slimmed down version of the manga stories)

A few eps here and there of the many blackjack adaptations of late (why are there so many?!!)

Movies:

Phoenix 2772 (black jack plays a prominant role?!)
Marine Express (what a trip this was...)
Metropolis
Cleopatra (saw this raw at otakon)
1001 Nights (ditto - there is also an english trailer up on youtube)

OVA:

Phoenix: Future (directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri - guy who did ninja scroll, the OVA version of my favorite chapter of phoenix)
BlackJack (which I like way more than the TV adaptations - go Osamu Dezaki)